'DL, vehicle papers on DigiLocker or mParivahan at par with original documents'
New Delhi, Sep 22: Documents such as driving licence or registration certificate in electronic formats will be treated at par with original documents if stored on DigiLocker or mParivahan apps, the government said on Friday.
"If documents are not available on mParivahan or DigiLocker then they will not be treated as legally recognised at par with the original documents," the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a statement.
The
ministry
issued
a
detailed
standard
operating
procedure
(SOP)
for
the
acceptance
of
transport-related
documents
presented
in
electronic
form
It
said
the
ministry
had
amended
the
Central
Motor
Vehicles
Rules
in
November
2018,
enabling
documents
such
as
registration
certificate
(RC),
insurance,
fitness
and
permit,
driving
licence
(DL),
pollution-under-control
certificate
(PUC)
and
any
other
relevant
documents
to
be
accepted
in
electronic
form.
"With this revision of rules, it is now not necessary for people to carry the relevant paper documents.
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"However,
for
the
electronic
documents
to
be
treated
as
legally
recognised
at
a
par
with
the
original
documents
as
per
the
provisions
of
the
Information
Technology
Act,
2000,
it
is
necessary
that
they
are
available
on
DigiLocker
or
mParivahan
app
carried
by
the
user,"
the
statement
said.
The
mParivahan
mobile
app
is
being
provided
by
the
Ministry
of
Road
Transport
and
Highways
through
NIC.
The details of RC, DL, fitness validity, insurance validity and permit validity are available on a real-time basis on this mobile app by entering the DL or the vehicle's registration number pertaining to the vehicles, it said.
"The DigiLocker platform of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has the facility to pull a citizen's driving licence or the certificate of registration details from VAHAN and make it available in the DigiLocker App in an electronic form," it added.
Data
related
to
vehicle
insurance
and
its
renewal
is
reflected
on
the
eChallan
app
that
is
available
only
to
enforcement
officers,
it
said.
According
to
the
SOP
issued
by
the
ministry,
people
can
download
the
DL
or
the
RC
through
these
apps
and
store
on
their
mobile
devices.
They can also show particulars related to the DL or the RC through the mParivahan app on the mobile through internet connectivity.
The enforcement agencies can simultaneously access these details from the eChallan app, which has data for online verification of vehicle and its licence status, it said.
"Offline verification of mParivahan QR Code is also available on this platform. Normal android mobile apps can be used for this purpose," the statement said.
This benefits both the enforcement agencies as they are not required to physically handle any document, their office need not maintain any inventory or record, and the citizens as they will not be required to carry documents, it said.
This fast, transparent and accountable system also ensures real-time availability of offence status to the transport and traffic enforcement officers and the citizens, it added.